News editor
Jenni Svitak, Fern Leach, and Kimberly Kroupa nominated Quail Creek Road, between Ramona and 290th Road, for a closer look at the road’s condition.
“Quail Creek from Ramona to (290th) is horrible,” Kroupa wrote. “I’m getting to the point that I prefer to drive on the rock and dirt roads more than the paved — which, when I use that term, would include all the roads we rock that are supposed to eventually get paved — roads.”
“Me too, Kim,” Svitak responded. “I do as much dirt road driving as I can in this county because, sad enough, it’s safer.”
A drive along Quail Creek reveals a variety of problems. The road has numerous potholes, the edge of the road is crumbling for much of the length, patched areas are bumpy and rough, and some of the potholes and crumbling edges are shored up with rock.
All of these problems matter because Quail Creek is the main blacktop road connecting Ramona with the rest of Marion County.
It may lose that designation next year, though. Marion County Commission Chairman Dan Holub, whose district includes Ramona, said the county’s plan is to grind the road up and re-lay a rock base, then chip-seal the road after a couple years of traffic packing the base tightly. Holub said that could happen next year, depending on when the county is able to resurface 340th between Quail Creek and Lost Springs.
“We don’t want too much blacktop in the area torn up at once,” Holub said.
In the meanwhile, Road and Bridge Department is trying to keep it patched until the time comes for heavier work on the road.